In a simulation of a semiconductor process, data based on an image of a physical structure which is obtained by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM) or a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is used as input data. When a shape is extracted from the image obtained by the electron microscope as the input data of the simulation, there are the following issues.
First, tuning of image processing parameters for edge detection and smoothing is not easily performed since various factors complexly influence the tuning, and when performing the simulation, it often takes time and effort to tune the parameters. Also, noise is often included in edge information which is detected from the image data, and more accurate simulation is desired. Furthermore, if a concave or convex shape is present in the detected edge information, calculation time of the shape simulation increases.